Research on nursing students attrition (drop out) from University

LivingADream · Oct 12, 2012

A friend of mine is in the Florida Hospital AS/RN program. She told me seven nusing students were dropped from her class at the end of last semester because they had to pass a dosage calculations test without any errors. They had three chances. Even though most of them made stupid little mistakes, it caused them to be dropped.

siRNita, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2012

In our program, there was and has always been tremendous attrition in the second semester of four, a cardiac/pulmonary/endocrine-focused semester. Everyone got through first semester okay; then I think 10+ people failed second our year and that was half of what happens some semesters. Brutal.

ashevilleboxer, BSN · Oct 13, 2012

At the university I attend we lost about 7 students between summer break and the beginning of Fall semester. Some students did not pass OB and were dropped. Then before we left for summer break they told us we would have a Med calculations exam 1st day back fall semester so prepare over the summer, everyone was not prepared. So we lost a few more students. OB and Med calculations.

jaej5 · Oct 15, 2012

I have only seen 2 drop from my course, its a BSN 5 semester course. We're in the 4th right now and two dropped in the 3rd. One failed the semester and one left because she was diagnosed with cancer. My school is not brutal like many of the others I know of, it has a caring philosophy, they want to teach everyone to be the best nurse they can be, rather than discard them because they made a mistake - its better to make the mistake in school than when you have a 6 pt load!!!!

TC3200 · Oct 16, 2012

The program that I was enrolled in was a diploma school that was run by a hospital. It was an old-fashioned program that started in the days when students lived at the hospital in dorms, worked in the hospital, and RN school was their whole life. The entire program is 28 months total. but there is one semester at the front that is just college coursework. If you subtract that, the actual nursing portion is more or less 24 months, year 'round.

The curriculum was built around using the hospital's limited facilities. It was not taught in traditional "blocks" like most vocational and registered nurse programs are. It was "integrated," meaning they chopped up the the topics like they'd pulled them out of a hat, and taught "normals" then they started through "abnormals." From a student's viewpoint, it was pure Hades. The clinicals were rotations, every term. You went when your group was scheduled, and as a rule, the clinicals were always out of sync with the lectures, and you might be doing the clinical far before or long after that material was covered in class. Thus, it was usually like going to two separate nursing schools at once: Keeping up with the lectures and passing the exams; and teaching yourself whatever you need to know to do a clinical before it was covered in lecture or reviewing prior lecture content from long ago, so that you could use it for your clinical the next day.

We sat in lectures roughly 6-7 hours per day, three days per week, for the entire term. Two full-day clinicals took up Thur & Fri. Weekends, all you could get done was write up all that clinical paperwork for Monday, and cram and read and study for the next exam. It was that same grind, day in, day out, week after week, and each term was the same: Too much time spent sitting in verbose lectures and no days off to study or get off the galley-slave routine.

After one year, Nursing 4, I was done. That school totally killed all of my enthusiasm for becoming a nurse. I find the lecture material very interesting to read and study, on my own. I just never will permit any school to monopolize and ruin my life and my health like that, ever again. If the RN job is that grueling and is constantly comprised of unreasonable demands and unsafe working conditions, they can keep that, too. Let some fool have it.

Add to my list of dislikes: I did a 2-day clinical that was observation in the OR. Granted, it was outside the sterile field. But, for those two days, there was a piece of paper and a few strands of hair lying on the floor, in the exact same spot, and they never moved. That means the floor wasn't even swept or dry-mopped, much less bleached or disinfected in at least 3 days.

One of the problems with going back to school as a mature adult is that you see things that other students can't. And then they wonder why you are so disappointed, or angry, or disgusted. And it truly does affect your experience as a student. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

enesberg · Oct 16, 2012

What school do you go to?

enesberg · Oct 16, 2012

Jaej5, What school did you go to?

kht124 · Oct 21, 2012

Our class started with 32 and is down to 25. Two people dropped before the end of the first semester. One switched after the first semester. Two people flunked first semester and switched school. Two people repeated first semester (they dropped some classes during 1st semester due to low grades and had to repeat. All students are allowed to repeat one time.)

Also, We had a guy from the previous semester (Class would be 33 with him). He failed his classes the second time and was kicked out.

I am in my second semester of nursing school.

susto · Oct 25, 2012

started with 30 down about 5 people since school began. one left for personal reasons, the rest didn't pass their semester with a 75%

jadams46 · Oct 27, 2012

As a nursing instructor in an ADN program, I see attrition first hand. There are multiple reasons; some people lack the basic academic skills, others try to work too much and still go to "full-time" nursing school, others do not study enough or the right way for their learning style, and then there are those who expected to be spoon fed the material. I have a ton of empathy for those students who struggle emotionally, financially, and academically. But I do not for the lazy, unmotivated and entitled students.

bigeyes4 · Nov 8, 2012

I sure wish I had been in a program like that. Our program was definitely brutal. I would have preferred a BSN program, but I didn't do the right research. I have a bachelor's in a non-nursing area and could have done well, had I found the right program. Our instructors bully their students. I found that difficult to tolerate. I am bitter and wish I had gone somewhere else. I am tired of school. I have tried many things. That's it. In addition, I found the hands-on aspect difficult. I am not a particularly dexterous person (even though I play three musical instruments). I can't figure out why. I was reprimanded for not learning how to put on and take off sterile gloves. It took me a while to learn how to put an ace bandage around a stump (amputated leg - phony - in nursing lab). I passed the med calculations test and my academic performance was quite good. If that were all that it took to be a nurse, I'd be doing fine. One day, I had had enough and could feel myself slipping emotionally. In the interest of self-preservation I just had to leave. I think that my situation is probably unique. Most students drop out because of academic deficiencies. That area was my strength. When I started nursing school, I considered it a journey that would probably change me for the better. I looked forward to that. But now I don't have that. I have this need to experience something life-changing (in a good way) like joining the army but I'm over the age limit for that. I am married with three children - two grown and the third in 11th grade. I was happy to have something potentially to fill the nest when it emptied. But again, I don't have that anymore. I feel a void. My motivation to find a job is nill. Thank God my husband's income suffices for the family. There is very little I'm interested in right now. I have decided to file for disability because it seems that I can't hold down a job (I have been fired many times) and I can't complete a post-graduate program. I feel like an emotional cripple. I am sensitive and have had problems with depression and anxiety with many hospitalizations. I even self-injured during a period of a few years. I don't do that anymore. Sorry for the candor, but I can be candid when no one knows my name. Verbalizing my situation seems to put it in perspective perhaps.

Any comments are welcomed. Thanks.